Manchester United’s miserable season continued on Tuesday with a 3-2 home defeat to Galatasaray as Casemiro was sent off for a penalty which the Turkish side missed before scoring the winner and leaving the hosts bottom of the Champions League. League Group A left behind.
With their fourth Premier League defeat of the season against Crystal Palace on Saturday in mind, United came out of the clutches in the Manchester rain and took the lead in the 17th minute through Danish striker Rasmus Højlund.
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However, their lead lasted for less than six minutes when Wilfried Zaha, playing against his former club, equalized after poor defending from the hosts.
After the break, Højlund brilliantly capitalized on a slip by Galatasaray defender Davinson Sanchez to put United back in front in the 67th minute, only for Kerem Akturkoglu to equalize four minutes later to silence Old Trafford.
A mistake by United goalkeeper Andre Onana forced Brazilian midfielder Casemiro to concede a penalty, who was sent off after a second yellow card.
Mauro Icardi let United off the hook when he fired his penalty wide, but the Argentine recovered to score a superb winner nine minutes from time that moved Galatasaray into second place in the group with four points and left United pointless.
Mauro Icardi scored the winning goal for Galatasaray against Manchester United shortly after missing a penalty.
Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich are at the top with six points from two games after a 2-1 win at FC Copenhagen, third with one point.
Back in the Champions League after a year’s absence, United were desperate for three points after losing to Bayern in their first Group A game after making their worst start to a domestic league season since 1989/90.
They also wanted to avoid losing a third game in a row in European competition, something they had not managed to do since 2012/13.
Hojlund’s ball header from Marcus Rashford’s precise cross couldn’t have given the hosts a better start.
Former Crystal Palace winger Zaha, who made just four appearances for United between 2013 and 2015, got revenge on the club for not giving him a real chance by capitalizing on Diogo Dalot’s hesitant defense before scoring achieved.
After the break, Højlund continued his European campaign with a great solo goal, but as he had done three times in the first group game in Munich, United conceded a goal too quickly after Akturkoglu struck.
With the score at 2-2, the home fans still believed their team could claim victory, but more woeful defense gave the Turkish side all three points.
Icardi’s penalty was weak and gave Old Trafford a boost, but a simple forward header from defender Sanchez in his own half eluded everyone in red and the Argentine striker raced clean to score his first Champions League goal since 2019.
After the final whistle there were wild scenes of celebration as Galatasaray won their first Champions League away win in a decade.
United fans left the pitch wondering when their suffering will end after their side lost six of their 10 games in all competitions this season after conceding a total of 18 goals – the most at that point since 1966/67 .